Heli-Log 11:26:2012

Well another Thanksgiving is here and gone. Now Christmas is just around the corner, not ready for that...just yet.

Anyhow, Bob and Bill came over Friday for some heli wrenching. Bob's Blade 450 Pro needed some swashplate readjustments. I decreased the length of the swash linkages just under 1/4". The swash was hitting the alignment pins on the head when cyclic was applied...not good. And +9 degrees was all I could get out of collective pitch before interfering with the alignment pins.

I measured the distance between the top bearing block (top of the frame) to the head alignment pins. Divided that measurement in half and set the center of the swashplate at that distance. Readjusted the links and releveled the swashplate. Put the head back on and zero'd the main blades.

Now I have plenty of collective pitch to play with! I set it for +/-11 degrees. Now the Blade is ready for a test flight, however, Friday had winds out of the North at 20-35 MPH with gusts upto 45 MPH. Not the ideal condition for the Blade!

So we started in on Bill's Thunder Tiger Titan 50. I recentered all his servos, setup the pull-pull linkages, leveled the swash, installed the gyro, cleaned up the wiring, and programed his radio for the first flight. So now that's two heli's to test fly.

Saturday was a great day to go out flying, but I was working...of course! So I'll wait, but in the meantime I'll start in on my Compass 3D+. Figure out what is going on with the clutch again, and try to solve the slow tail wag.